


Set You Free

by anonnynonny (aerisflowers)



Series: I love you [3]
Category: Lovely Little Losers
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Missing Scene, No Plot/Plotless
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-09
Updated: 2016-01-09
Packaged: 2018-05-12 19:58:03
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,404
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5678668
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aerisflowers/pseuds/anonnynonny
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The day after +confrontation+, Balth's first day back at the flat.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Set You Free

**Author's Note:**

> Just another little plotless rambling. Just these characters, living their lives without us.

As they sat around the table eating Freddie’s waffles, Peter felt an overwhelming sense of contentment, and not just because Freddie’s waffles were like breakfast-heaven on a plate. The flat was reunited at last and there were no more rules hanging over everything they did. Freddie and Kit would occasionally look at each other and smile. Peter was holding out hope that Ben and Bea would eventually resolve their issues. Anyone could see that they cared for each other and he hoped that the rules had not done irreparable damage to their relationship. Finally, and perhaps best of all, Balthy was back in the flat.

Peter moved one of his feet under the table to place it over Balthy’s. Balthazar smiled, but continued to eat without looking at Peter. Peter smiled in kind and finished the last bite of his waffle.

“Mmm Freds, that was great, thanks. Bea and Meg might be fighting for the title of Queen of the World, but you’ll always be Queen of Breakfast in my book,” he said.

“Yeah,” said Balthazar, finishing a large mouthful with a big swallow, “and infinitely better without any of Ben’s hummus on the top.”

Everyone at the table laughed, but they were all giving each other slightly awkward looks.

“Yeah,” said Ben finally, “Look Balth, I think that we might have been a bit harsh with your first punishment. Even I’ll admit that my hummus is sub-par.” Ben paused and Balthazar looked up around the table. Everyone was nodding. Before Balth could speak, Ben continued, “And I think I went too far with posting that footage of you and Pete. I let things get out of hand and I’ve been a real dick at times this year. I’m sorry. To everyone.”

Seeing the look on Balth’s face, Peter placed his hand over Balth’s arm where it rested on the table. Neither of them wanted to think about the few days after that footage had been posted. It had already been awkward enough for Peter to see Balth around the flat after he’d so royally fucked up. Once Fred, Ben and the rest of the internet knew, it had been even worse. Not only did Peter feel like he’d really put his foot in his mouth with his choice of words ( _look of potential_ – what had he been thinking? Such poor word choice! Really, after studying Elizabethan poetry and Marlowe for a term, you’d think that he’d have understood the importance and power of language and choosing the right words…), but then what had been a private awkward moment shared between the two of them had been posted for everyone to see. Peter could see the hurt in Balth’s eyes every time they had run into one another for the next few days.

Ben looked up, and dropped into his _Benji_ accent. “Stay tuned to this space folks, where the Lovely Little Losers realize how stupid they were to impose overly strict rules on themselves and make more problems than they solved. Will they be able to forgive each other?”

Freddie jumped to her feet looking around the room wildly. “What, are you filming?!” She wasn’t the only one looking for a camera.

“No no no!” exclaimed Ben, quickly, waving his arms.

“Okay, I just thought…and you’d agreed not to be a dick about it,” said Fred.

“Sorry, no cameras, just making an observation. No, I’m probably not going to film for a bit. I want to show Bea that I’m trying…or something…not that she watches our channel anyway…” and he trailed off.

“I forgive you Ben.” Balthazar’s voice was strong and clear and Peter felt himself falling in love with him all over again. “And I’m sure Bea will too, eventually. Anyway, thanks Freds for the waffles. I think I’m going to go and unpack my things.” Balth stood up from the table and went to retrieve his guitar from the couch where he had left it upon entering the flat.

Walking back to the table, he reached out a hand to Peter, who willingly entwined his fingers and let himself be pulled across the room.

“You guys are gross and cute,” Fred called after them, and Kit laughed in the background.

As soon as Balth had closed the door behind them, Peter said, “That was nice, what you said for Ben. I love you for how easily you are able to forgive the people who do you wrong.” He was thinking not only of Ben, but also of how he, himself had treated Balth this year.

“You know, last night after you left Vegan Fred’s with Ben and Fred, I watched the footage of your swordfight with Costa. Super hot, by the way, you look good with a sword in your hand,” Balth wiggled his eyebrows and smiled at Peter.

Peter opened his mouth to make a retort, but Balth continued, “Anyway, I recognized the importance of forgiveness. I think it was Costa’s forgiveness that allowed you to forgive yourself and maybe that’s why we are where we are today, and I thought Ben needed that as well.”

Balth was standing in the middle of his room, holding his guitar case in one hand and pulling at the end of his sleeve with the other.

“You are fucking incredible.” Peter said and he moved forward to embrace Balth, placing his hands around Balth’s waist and pulling him into a kiss. Balth melted into Peter, putting his arms around Peter’s neck and standing up on his toes to match Peter’s height. Peter thought that he would never get used to the fact that he could now kiss Balthazar Jones any time he wanted, and even that maybe (and the thought send goosebumps down his arms) he could consider himself the boyfriend of Balthazar Jones. Time seemed to pass with no meaning as they stood locked in embrace, lips on lips, chest to chest, thigh to thigh, sinking further and further into one another.

They moved in tandem towards Balth’s bed; it hit the back of Peter’s legs and he collapsed backwards, Balth tumbling after him, landing on top of him, his weight settling on Peter heavily and hotly. Balth pulled away for a second to look down at Peter. His eyes were bright, his cheeks flushed and they were both breathing heavily. Balth’s hair was looking a little mussed, but still swept to the side. Peter reached up to run his hands through Balth’s hair, the same way he’d seen Balth do a thousand times. He snaked his arm around Balth’s neck and pulled him back down. Tugging up the hem of Balth’s shirt upwards, he began to explore the soft skin of his low back in lazy circles. Balth was running his hand up and down Peter’s arm.

“What the hell, Benedick?!” Fred’s voice could be heard through the walls.

They broke the kiss and Peter said in a low voice, “The soundproofing in this place is terrible.”

“Yeah, we know. We tried to tell you at the beginning of the year,” said Balth, pulling himself into a sitting position away from Peter.

“Well there’s a mood killer,” said Peter, adjusting himself to sit cross legged across from Balth, knees touching. “Look, I’m not trying to be defensive here, but I can’t exactly change the past, and the only thing I regret is that I hurt you in the process. I don’t think I need to explain or apologize for all the people I saw earlier this year. I promise though,” and Peter leaned forward and placed a hand on each of Balth’s knees, “that I’m fully committed to this and there hasn’t been anyone else since Jaquie and there’s only you now.”

Balth shook his head, “Nah, sorry, that came out wrong. God, we’re bad at this. It’s just that we’re here,” and he motioned to where they had just been lying, “and I can’t help but think that, you’ve a ton more experience than me and maybe I won’t live up to your expectations or, uh, past experiences.” A rosy tint flooded Balth’s cheeks and he looked down at where Peter’s hands rested on his legs, pulling at the end of his sleeves.

Peter paused for a minute. He didn’t want to diminish Balth’s concerns by laughing, but that was a crazy worry. The chemistry between them was electric and rooted in their obvious caring for one another. Peter thought about all the times that Balth had put Peter before himself over the past year (or really throughout their entire friendship) and was ashamed to remember how he had yelled at Balth for doing just that. They knew one another and had been friends for so long. Hell, Balth was the first person that Peter had come out to. Every time that he kissed Balth, it was so much more than just physical attraction.

“You know what worries me,” he responded, “that you’ve had these feelings for me for, like, a really long time, and maybe the reality of me won’t actually live up to what you’ve imagined me to be? I mean look at last year…I’m not the all round great guy that everyone believed me to be. I fucked up and I’ve been doing a shit job of trying to make up for it, or not. What if I fuck this up too?”

“You know, you’ve been tearing yourself apart for that all year when everyone already forgave you. You can’t let this weigh on you forever. It seems that we both have our own insecurities about this relationship, but I guess it’s good that we get them out in the open and keep talking about them. I’ve not been great at that in the past, but I really want this to work. I love you. I love that I can say that now.”

Peter was about to respond, when he was interrupted by Fred, raising her voice on the other side of the wall.

“No, no no!” Fred sounded like she was beginning to get really worked up.

“We should probably go and see what’s going on,” said Balth and pushed himself to his feet.

Peter followed Balth to the door. “I know we’ve got lots to talk about, I just want you to know that I love you, and I’m not comparing you to anyone.”

Balth smiled and ducked his head. He opened the door and stepped out into the living room, “What the…?” Balthazar said softly.

Peter stepped out of the door behind Balth and took in the sight for himself. The room was covered in paper chains spreading from corner to corner in every direction, some pinned in loops and others hanging straight down in uneven tails. Most of the lower portions were lower than head height, so that no matter where Ben stood, he had to bend his neck or have paper falling down his face.

“Well, I thought that we should make the place a bit festive seeing as it’s almost Christmas.” said Ben.

“We weren’t in Balth’s room for that long; where’d these come from?!” exclaimed Peter.

“I had all these left over that we didn’t use for Balth’s party and so…” he trailed off.

“This is ridiculous.”

“Oh come on you guys! Paper chains are cool! So much sellotape, see!” and he gestured around the room with wide-open eyes, his arms sweeping past all the paper making a soft rustling sound.

Peter looked to Fred and shrugged. “Fine” she said, “but only for one day. I don’t want to get paper cuts all over my head just from walking through this room.”

“I’ll take it!” said Ben, grinning from ear to ear, and he returned to hanging the last few chains that were around his neck.

Peter glanced over at the couch and saw Ben’s laptop. He remembered that he had told Ben he would post the footage of him and Balth recreating Ben’s song for Bea in the bath. He picked up the laptop and walked back into Balth’s room, settling himself on Balth’s bed with the laptop resting on his legs.

Balth walked into the room after him and closed the door. He picked up a ukulele and settled himself next to Peter on the bed. Peter lifted his leg and wrapped it over Balthazar’s. “I have leg priority, remember?” he said, with a smile. Balth grinned and began strumming, picking out a few random chords.

“I have an idea for a song,” he said. They sat together for a while, Balthazar strumming on the ukelele, occasionally writing notes in his song notebook which was never far from his reach, or singing lines, and Peter editing the video footage. He started piecing together the last segment of his and Balth’s bathtub conversation while he was at it.

Peter listened to the words of Balth’ song and smiled. He was writing about the rules and how they had both overcome fear and madness and that breaking the rules didn’t mean they were walking into uncertainty, but that they would be growing together.

He finished editing the Balth in a Bath episode with Ben’s song and uploaded it to YouTube. As he wrote the description, he thought about Bea and hoped that she would remember all of Ben’s good qualities – his huge heart, his loyalty, his playfulness – and begin to forgive him or consider at least giving him another chance.

I’m playing at Boyet’s later this afternoon,” Balth said. Peter thought about the lyrics of the song and tried not to let jealousy overwhelm him. It was hard to forget the video of what had appeared to be Balth and Vegan Fred on a date on the beach with brownies, especially given Peter’s mental state when he had seen it. “Will you be able to come?” Balth continued, not noticing Peter’s internal struggle.

“I’d love to, but I have Faustus practice in an hour and it’s always hard to say when Costa considers a practice finished, particularly as we’re close to opening night. I’ll head over as soon as we’re done.”

Balth looked a little disappointed, but nodded.  

“I know I don’t necessarily have the best track record for showing up to your gigs, but I promise I’ll be at this one.”

# # #

Faustus practice was a little more frenetic than usual as they were so close to show time, although as usual Costa seemed to have a clear vision, despite his roundabout way of conveying it.

“I was inspired by our recent encounter with the Russian dairy owner and have some new blocking for the getaway scene,” he said exuberantly.

Peter looked up at Jaquie and grinned as she rolled her eyes. Costa reached out and took one of each of their arms, dragging them into position.

“Peter, you will start here, and Jaquie, you here….no, no, swap places, yes much better. And Chelsey, you will start the scene on this chair and slowly work your way over to Peter, moving like this.”

He demonstrated a complicated movement that looked like a floating leap followed by a slow shuffle. Chelsey, who had been whispering with Paige off to the side looked up at Costa and nodded, starting to imitate Costa.

“Excellent, excellent.”

Practice continued much like this, with Peter checking the clock occasionally and hoping that he would still be able to catch the end of Balth’s gig.

Finally Costa was pleased with their progress and declared their practice over.

“I’m headed over to Boyet’s. Balth is playing tonight. You guys are all welcome to join.”

Everyone seemed keen so they all piled into their cars, and Costa on his scooter, and caravanned their way to Boyet’s.

The coffee shop packed when they arrived, but after looking around, Peter spotted Ben sitting at a table with Fred and Kit and a few empty chairs. Everyone squeezed in while Chelsey and Paige went to order drinks and brownies.

Balth was in the middle of playing his cover of Mumford and Son’s “Sigh No More”. Peter had heard Balth singing this song countless times, but as he reached _the_ lyric, he looked up and noticed that Peter had joined his friends. They locked eyes.

“Love, it will not betray you, dismay or enslave you, it will set you free.”

His voice was clear, and a small smile played across his lips as he broke eye contact to sweep his gaze over the rest of the audience, drawing them into the song and the lyrics. Peter felt his heart skip a beat as he watched Balth’s fingers dance over the frets, so graceful and assured. The fingers that had sparked Peter’s imagination and inspired Peter’s sonnet. His heart was filled with all the words and feelings that he had poured into the poem and all the words and phrases that he had tried and discarded over the past few months and 127 attempts before he felt that he was able to do them justice.

The warm light played over Balth’s face, illuminating his high cheekbones and highlighting the lighter shades of blond in his hair. His piercing blue eyes met once more with Peter’s. He had once said as a joke during his interview with Ursula for one of her films that his favourite color was blue like Balth’s eyes, but he realized in this moment that nothing had ever been more true.

Balth’s lips formed the last refrain of the song and his fingers strummed the last chord. He paused for a moment and leaned forward into the mic. “Thanks so much everyone for coming. Don’t forget to pick up a brownie on your way out, they make a fantastic late night snack.”

The audience applauded as Balth started to put away his guitar. Peter, feeling sorry that he had missed most of the gig, started to get up and join Balth on the other side of the room. He looked up and saw Fred Boyet making his way over to Balth carrying two steaming mugs. He placed the mugs on a small table next to Balth and reached out to lay a hand on Balth’s shoulder. Balth was smiling and nodding.

Once again, Peter had to fight an irrational wave of jealousy. He walked over to where they were now standing and heard the tail end of their conversation.

“…always welcome back any time, and I can absolutely send you the recipe for the scones.”

“Yeah, that’d be great. I think I’m good back at the flat, but I really appreciate everything you did when I needed s break.” Balth looked up and saw Peter walking towards them. He smiled.

“I’m so sorry I missed it!” Peter said, ignoring Fred.

“Nah, that’s alright, I’m glad you came. I was saving that one for last.” Balth looked up at Fred with an apologetic look. “Thanks again, Fred.”

Fred nodded, “Of course. Well, I’d better get back behind the bar. See you later Balthazar.”

“You know he really is a nice guy,” said Balth leaning up to plant a quick kiss on Peter’s lips.

“I’m trying really hard to like him, but I see the way that he looks at you.”

“You don’t trust me?”

“Yes, I do, it’s just that…” Peter trailed off as he looked down at Balth. Balth was looking at him with eyebrows raised. “You’re right, of course. I’ll try to give him a chance.”

Balth had finished putting away his guitar and they went over to join the rest of their friends.

Freddie moved onto Kit’s lap to make room for them around the table. Costa handed Peter a mug. Ben, Fred and Kit complemented Balth, while Costa and the rest of the Faustus cast apologized profusely for being so late. Peter laid his hand on Balth’ leg under the table. He thought with contentment that almost all was right with the world again (perhaps tomorrow he would give Bea a call). He thought about the lyrics of Balth’s song. Love…it will set you free. He looked around the table and saw so many different kinds of love – friendship, family, new love and felt his heart soar as he looked into a future filled with Balthazar and new promise. He gave Balth’s leg a squeeze and in return Balth placed his hand over Peter’s, looked at him out of the corner of his eyes and smiled. Love had certainly set him free.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks everyone for reading this far! Sorry this update took a while, I've been away on vacation. Hope you guys enjoy this. I may have one or two more in my head to get us through FEATHERS or Break 'dem Rules. I appreciate all your comments and feedback!


End file.
